The Governor of Shantung reports the disbandment of two naval divisions, the Tengchou division and the Jungchéng division, It appears that the boats of these divisions are old and useless and it is not considered necessary to provide new ones, Five hundred men are to be retained at Chefoo as coastguards, and for similar duties on shore which cannot be performed by the Northern feet. These men will be available for boat duty when required and_when the vessels éf the Northern fleet are in harbour will man the necessary boats which can he hired for the occasion. As to the officers of the force they may choose between joining the land forces or awaiting selection for duty in the Northern fleet.—Reseript: Let the Board concerned take note.
8th January.
ADDITIONAL TROOPS FOR HONAN, As the Sungwu Brigade cannot at the present moment be sent back to Honan, the Governor of that province asks leave to raise another battalion for immediate service. The memorialist states that, on is application, permission was recently given by the Emperor for the return of these troops from Shantung, and the Viceroy Li Hung-chang represented to the Throne that the retention of the Sungwa brigade at its present post was urgently necessary, because certain forts were being constructed for the defence of the ports upon the coast. The Emperor therefore decreed that the brigade should remain where it is till the forts are completed, and then its two battalions should return to Honan at once. After devoting a paragraph to the praise of His Majesty's sagacity, the memorialist continues. his argument. Honan, he says, lies in the centre of -the Empire and is traversed by great routes in every direction. On its north-eastern border, in spite of the most constant watchfulness, robbers are always entering from Chibli or Shantung. On the south and west, where the province touches upon Anhui, Hupeh and Shensi, there are three or four hundred miles of frontier, consisting of mountainous tracts in which marauders can easily lie concealed. The small number of battalions at the Governor's disposal are scattered about in detachments; but every: where, and especially on the southern frontier, they are not enough for their work. Recently, when the Szechuan rebels made their. way into Shensi, there were disquieting rumours along the Hupeh frontier; and the memorialist was really inconvenienced by the want of troops to send there. A year ago he asked leave to raise a force for home service and to pay it with the funds saved by the previous disbanding of one of the Sungwu battalions, but this proposal was negatived by the Board, so that he was unwilling now to revive it, He therefore requested that the two remaining battalions should be sent home. But this, he finds, cannot be granted and, moreover, it will be more than a matter of a few months before the Shantung forts are completed. Who recent disturbances caused by Kolao Hid in several provinces are an additional reason for requiring more soldiers. For though all the outbreaks have been sup-
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.